Zoe Dunning

Board Co-Chair - San Francisco, CA

Retired Navy Commander Zoe Dunning served on the SLDN board from 1993-2000, serving as its Co-Chair from 1993-98. She rejoined the board in 2005 and has been Board Co-Chair since October 2006.

Zoe has been a tireless advocate for fighting the military's policies prohibiting open gay service. In January 1993, while a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserves, Dunning publicly came out as a lesbian at a political rally outside the gates of California's Moffett Field. Dunning won her subsequent two-and-a-half year legal battle to remain in the Navy Reserves. The Navy promoted her twice and awarded her the Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal since her coming out. She retired in June 2007 and holds the distinction of serving her country as an openly gay member of the U.S. military for over 13 years. She currently serves on Senator Barbara Boxer's (D-CA) Service Academy Selection Committee.

In her civilian life, Zoe is a principal at Quintus Associates, LLC where she partners with executives and their teams to lead major change initiatives. She also facilitates graduate-level courses on Interpersonal Dynamics and Influential Leadership at Stanford University. She is a United States Naval Academy graduate, and received her MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Zoe resides in San Francisco, CA with her wife Pam.